Is Kodak the 'Biggest Loser'

[arthurking83]

I'm also confused as to the notion of a move towards purity too.

While it's a smart move for Kodak to cease production of cameras themselves.. this idea of purity doesn't make sense.

Kodak should have done what they've done a long time ago and licensed the production of digital cameras to other companies and collected licensing fees from them instead!

It's obvious that Kodak as a manufacturer is bloated and inefficient and have relied upon the high profit high markup products such as film for far too long.
When it comes to competing on a level playing field their inability to compete against the rest of the world is what bogged them down and caused the financial collapse of the company!

As the inventor of the digital camera, Kodak should have seen that their role in the market was more as it was in the film business and maintained separation from the manufacturing side of the product and concentrated on design and IP licensing of their technologies!!

[wideangle]

Not at all, there is a big difference between keeping an old building in a good state of repair compared to letting it fall into dis-repair and needing to be demolished. Some things just end up needing to be pulled apart, knocked down, removed. No matter what, progress is going to happen, otherwise that digital camera you use, would never have been invented. Sometimes people just have to accept the world has moved forward, and they can choose to go with it, or not.

I don't think progress doesn't happen, of course it does and needs to happen. There are many examples of buildings though that are in a perfect working state, yet they are demolished for a wide range of reasons. It's the people with power that can often choose the path and way things go. Point is things are not as black and white as they appear. Sure progress happens, but one must acknowledge the past even if there are good and bad points, otherwise how can we learn for the future and really 'move forward' One persons idea of moving forward is going to be different to another persons, and they may think it's moving backwards - the rich diversity of human beings at work.

I don't think it's a case of choosing to 'move forward', its two steps forward 1 step back approach - some things are good and some things are not. It's like the success of certain brands, success with people using their technology, yet cheap labor force in China - do we ignore this and 'move forward' for the sake of progress - nothing is black and white in this world.....Kodak for whatever reason are to be no longer - I reflect on this loss and what that company has done in the industry - this doesn't mean I live in the past, it simply means that I view the past, and see that the past present and future are all linked.

[Kym]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02..._to_sue_kodak/

[top]Apple seeks permission to kick Kodak's corpse

Asks court to allow patent claim against dying photo icon
By Rik Myslewski in San Francisco • Get more from this author
Posted in Law, 15th February 2012 18:56 GMT
Apple has asked the New York branch of the US Bankruptcy Court for permission to sue what's left of Kodak, the once-mighty film firm, for patent infringment.
"Apple requests express authority from this court before it initiates the actions out of an abundance of caution," Apple's lawyers wrote somewhat ungrammatically in the court filing, according to Bloomberg.
The mood must be gloomy in the corner offices at Kodak's Rochester, New York headquarters. The company filed for Chapter 11 backruptcy protection less than a month ago, but that hasn't stopped Cupertino's legal team from now going after them for what it alleges are infringements of patents covering printers, digital cameras, and digital picture frames, Bloomberg reports.

[Kym]

http://www.news.com.au/business/brea...-1226457317178

KODAK wants to sell its document imaging and personalised imaging businesses to better focus on printing and business services as it tries to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Eastman Kodak Co said on Thursday that the sale of the units, along with cost-cutting measures and the auction of its patent portfolio, will help it emerge from bankruptcy sometime in 2013.

Kodak's document-imaging division makes scanners and offers related software and services.

The personalised imaging business includes photo paper and still-camera film products.

It also offers souvenir photo products at theme parks and other venues.

Antonio Perez, Kodak's chairman and CEO, said the planned sale is "an important step in our company's reorganisation to focus our business on the commercial markets".

The storied photography pioneer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January.

It has kept operating while it tries to sell its digital imaging patents.

So far, it has not found buyers.

Rochester, New York-based Kodak was founded in 1880.

Kodak introduced the iconic Brownie camera in 1900.

Selling for $US1 and using film that cost just 15 cents a roll, it made hobby photography affordable for many people.

Its Kodachrome film, introduced in 1935, became the first commercially successful amateur colour film.

Kodak's workforce peaked in 1988 at nearly 150,000 employees.

But the company couldn't keep up with the shift from digital photo technology over the past decade and with competition from Japanese companies such as Canon.

It said earlier this year that it would stop making digital cameras, pocket video cameras and digital picture frames as it tries to reshape its business.

[swifty]

Haven't read through the whole 5 pages of responses but if others haven't said it, its like watching a train wreck in slo mo.
Its so sad.